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City seeks input on Sandy Community Campus concepts

Cedar Ridge Middle School spot to become community space with park, sports fields

With a grander picture of what the proposed Sandy Community Campus could be, the city is now asking for input.

From 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, and from 7-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, in the Sandy Public Library Community Room, 38980 Proctor Blvd., city staff and architects from OPSIS Architecture will host open houses to display concepts for the new facility.

The events will feature photos, drawings and other visuals of the conceptual use of the former Cedar Ridge Middle School site for perusal and critique by community members.

"We are very excited to be having these open houses," City Manager Kim Yamashita told The Post. "This is a two-way communication with our citizens on the project."

The 40-acre property has potential, according to OPSIS' plans, to be not only a community center but a multi-faceted park space, including several different sports fields, community meeting spaces and much more.

Though the city is working to find and obtain grant funding, the campus project will most likely be completed in phases, partially because of the enormity of the undertaking and partially because the total cost — about $72 million — is not an amount the city has to put down at one time.

That said, one of the highest priorities the city staff would like to have input on is facility amenities.

"We want input on the facility amenities priorities since funding all of the project at one time will not likely be possible, and we want to be able to answer questions the community may have of us," Yamashita noted. "(We want to know) community hopes, fears and ideas. We want to know what is important, why it is important and the priorities of our community so we know that our phases for the build are aligned with the needs of the community."

Once people have given their two cents, the city and its contractors will use the community's comments to shape how the facility is built.

"(Community input will) help us prioritize the phasing of the builds as well as make sure that we meet the needs of all of our generations," Yamashita said. "This is going to be a multi-generational center and we want to make sure that everyone zero to 100 is represented and their needs met. We are open to bringing the presentation to groups and events as needed to be sure we get as much input as possible. We will also be doing some work with citizen groups on their ideas for funding the project."

After that, "the phasing will be better defined and honed (and the city) will set a schedule to get started with phase one (whatever that looks like)."